Garage door



Jan. 25, 1955 o. J. MAHLITZ GARAGE DOOR Filed Feb. 3, 1955 FIG. 3.

Inventor OTTO J. MILE 1 i xorney HG. I.

United Statesv Patent noonv Otto. J; Mahlitz, Britannia Bay, "Ottawa, Ontario, Canada,

assignor of one quarter to Max G, Schoen and onequarter to Margaret JessimanyOttawa, Ontario, Canada Application February 3,1953, Serial .No. 834,819

a "3 Claims; 01. 160-190 This invention relates to improvements in a garage door of Itheover'head type.

Objects :of the invention are'to provide an overhead typje garage door that may be opened and closed with-a minimum ofefiort, will close snugly-and tightly at the top,"and operate smoothly without slamming.

A further object of the invention is to provide a garage door of the nature described that is characterized by structural simplicity, durability and efficiency and is capable of manufacture and installation at reasonable cost, whereby the same is rendered commercially desirable.

To the accomplishment of these and related objects as shall become apparent as the description proceeds, the invention resides in'the construction, combination and arrangement of parts as shall be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereunto appended.

The invention will be best understood and can be more clearly described when reference is had to the drawings forming a part of this disclosure wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the inside of the door; Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof, with the tracks on the near side removed; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical section of the door, as taken on line 33 of Figure 1.

Overhead garage doors formed of hingedly connected horizontal sections and travelling in vertical and horizontal tracks mounted at the sides of the door opening and along the ceiling are available for installation in new garages and for replacing older type hinged doors. Most of them are operated by electric motors or coil springs with expensive initial cost and maintenance. In lifting a door of this type, one of the problems is that the load diminishes as one section after another reaches the top of the door opening and begins to slide inwards and so the power must be reduced accordingly or the speed of the opening door accelerates until the door strikes its end stop with a shattering crash.

In the present invention, the simplest form of lift namely a weight and a carrying cable passing over an elevated pulley is employed and to vary the force of the weight, according to the changing load of the door as the sections thereof move from vertical to horizontal position or vice versa, the weight is guided by a curved track whereby its gravitational force may be made to balance the load of the door at all points or stages of the doors travel and only friction need be overcome by the operator.

To close the top of the door tightly into the jamb, a second or upper rail is employed with its forward end at the jamb being substantially horizontal and then being oifset upwardly immediately to the rear thereof, thus the initial movement of the top of the door is inwardly until it clears the overlying frame part, and to produce such an initial inward hinging of the uppermost door section, a spegial but very simple latch-retracting arrangement is use Referring now to the particular embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, 1 indicates a sectional door mounted in the door opening 2 of a garage 3 or the like. A track 4 extends up each edge of the door opening on the inside thereof to about the top of the opening 2 then curves and extends into the garage in a substantially horizontal reach 5 which preferably arcs slightly downwards. The door 1 is composed of horizontally extending panels or sections 1a, 1b and 1c connected by hinges 2,700,420 Patented? Jam. .25, 1-1 955 '6 anid'these panels, exceptingjtheiuppermost. lahaverollers 7 extended from their outer edges that travel-in the tracks 4. p

The uppermost panel 1a of the door has rollers 8at itsftop 'outer corners but these travel in a pair-of special and. substantially horizontal .tracks .9, in the. same. vertical planesasthe tracks :4 but spacedabovethem. Thetracks 9 are curved downwards at their inner ends as are. the horizontal or inwardlreac'hes. '5 of the main tracks to allow thev hinged. sections to travel smoothly into over? head position without jambing at their hinged edges. The. forward end .10. of the .tracks 9 will be observed, however, :tofbe downwardly offset by a. reverse curve step 11; the short horizontal-length 10- atther forward end directing the rollers -8j-to guide the top of the door horizon.- tally into a snug tight-fitting closed position in the top jamb 11 of the door opening. It will be-seen in EigureS that; the :roller 8 can move directly inwards only-enough for the top. of the door to. clear the overlyingpartsoflthe jamb. 1 2 before it. begins to rise-on the. upwardly offset reverse curve portion 11.

In opening the door, as an initial lift on the door 1 would merely push its top edge upwards against the jamb.

12, an inwardly projecting post 14 is hinged on the inside of the second-from-the-top panel 1b and the cable 15 from the rotatable lever handle 16 to the spring projected latch bolt 17 mounted at the top centre of the door and engaging a keeper on the door frame, connects to the free inner end of said post so that as the handle 16 is turned it pulls the cable 15 to withdraw the bolt 17 and because it passes over the inner end of the hinged post 14 exerts an inward tension on the top door section 1a causing it to hinge inwards until its top edge clears the jamb and the roller 3 enters the upwardly curving portion of the track offset 11 so that upward lift on the door will guide the upper panel roller 8 inwards along the track 9.

For balancing the load of the door 1, a suitable weight 20 is employed; provided with supporting rollers 21 that travel on a curved track 22 mounted conveniently on the wall of the garage 3. From the weight a cable 23 passes over a pulley 24 then divides with each line passing over a guide pulley 25, on each side of the door opening, and connecting with an eye-bolt 26 at its respective lower corner of the door 1. The curve of the track 22 is preferably graduated from a substantially vertical portion 22a at its upper forward end to a substantially horizontal portion 22b at its lower inner end which may also be upturned in a stop abutment 220.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be manifest that a garage door is provided that will fulfill all the necessary requirements of such a device, but as many changes could be made in the above description and many apparently widely different embodiments of the invention may be constructed within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit or scopethereof, it is intended that all matters contained in the said accompanying specification and drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitative or restrictive sense.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is:

1. For an overhead garage door consisting of hinged sections and a track adapted to guide the door from a vertical closed position to a horizontal overhead open position; a counterbalance device of varying force to correspond with the changing load of the door, as the several sections thereof, in being lifted, move from the vertical to horizontal position, comprising a weight, a curved guide track from which said weight is suspended, the curve of said track being graduated from a substantially vertical position at the top end thereof to a substantially horizontal position at the lower end thereof, a cable connecting said weight to said door and a pulley over which said cable passes.

2. For a garage door having a door opening, a door of the overhead type comprising a plurality of hingedly connected horizontal sections, guide rails for said door extending vertically on each side of the garage door opening then running inwardly, a sliding counterbalance weight for said door, a cable connecting said weight to said door, a pulley over which said cable passes between said door and said weight and a curved track on whic said weight slides, the curve of said track being graduated from a substantially vertical position at the top to a substantially horizontal position at the bottom whereby the efiective force of said counterbalance weight lessens as successive door sections move from vertical into overhead position.

3. In a weight operated garage door of the overhead type for use in a garage having a door opening, and wherein the door consists of a plurality of hingedly con nected horizontally extending sections, a pair of guide rails for all but the top section of said door, one rail ex tending vertically on each side of the door opening then running inwardly, a second pair of guide rails engaged only by the top section of said door and spaced above the inward extensions of said first pair of guide rails, said second pair of guide rails each having a short horizontal portion leading to the jamb of the door opening and a reverse curve downwardly olfsetting step between the main portion of the rail and said short forward end, a rotatable door handle in one of the door sections other than the top one, a hinged post extending inwards from the handle carrying section, and a cable reaching from said handle to the top section of the door and passing over the inner end of said post whereby on the actuating t 4 of said handle, the top section of said door is caused t hinge inwards, a varying weight counterbalance con nected by cable to said door, a pulley over which the cable for said counterbalance weight passes and a declining curved track graduating between its ends from near vertical to near horizontal and having an abutment on its lower end; said counterbalance having supporting rollers sliding on said curved track and engageable at the lower end with said abutment, whereby said counterbalance travelling said curved track acts with varying force corresponding with the changing load of the door as the several sections thereof move from vertical closed position to overhead open position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,469,542 Storms Oct. 2, 1923 1,925,574 Scott Sept. 5, 1933 2,030,873 Hungerford Feb. 18, 1936 2,042,158 McKinney May 26, 1936 2,217,437 Ferris et al Oct. 8, 1940 2,322,377 McHarg June 22, 1943 2,436,006 Kaiser Feb. 17, 1948 

